Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: I am late on the rent I have no rental agreement with them. electric is included in the rent. he has shut off my power in his main breaker box and locked it he also came in while I was away and changed the locks

Answer: You can call the power company where you are and report that your power is out, call the police to let you back into your unit and tell the landlord to turn the power back on and watch out for court papers. If the landlord sues you to get you out ( the only legal way to get the locks changed is with a court order after you lose in court), make sure you show up in court when it says and tell the judge about the lockout and the power shut off. You are entitled to money damages for those actions. Obviously, it's better not to get behind in the rent or work something out with the landlord, but their actions are still illegal.